Damage to an area of the Vitosha Mountains, caused by illegal blasting to expand a ski zone, has resulted in Environment Minister Djevdet Chakurov ordering Sofia Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Waters (RIEW) to take the matter to the Prosecutor’s Office.

The blasting has damaged special types of moraines and Alpine plant species, the Environment Ministry said in a media statement. According to the To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria (SNB) coalition of environmental NGOs, the devastation was caused because of the expansion of the Vitosha ski zone by the offshore company Vitosha Ski AD, the owner of all Vitosha ski lifts, and connected to Bansko Ski Zone in Pirin Mountain, Ulen AD.

The Environment Ministry assessed the construction of a new ski road as illegal, as state or park authorities had not given their approval for it. Sofia RIEW is expected to punish those responsible, the ministry said.

Vitosha nature park’s management plan, approved by the Government, bans the construction of new ski routes, facilities and buildings near Aleko ski resort, where the blasting of moraines started, SNB said on October 6. The construction also partially violated the Protected Areas Act, the Biodiversity Act, as well as the Habitats and Birds Directives of the European Union, because construction started in part of the Natura 2000 environmental area.

Vitosha is the first nature park in the Balkan Peninsula. It is also one of the strongest symbols of nature protection in Bulgaria, as well as the most visited by Sofians as a holiday and weekend resort. “Allowing illegal activities in the nature park would provoke a sharp public reaction and would lead to additional loss of public trust in the institutions,” SNB wrote in a letter to Chakurov.